If you were going to write an allegory to illustrate the history of timeshare resort architecture and design, you could start with the traditional Cinderella story. But Cinderella would have to start out a little uglier than her stepsisters. To make a quick buck, she starts remodeling unsold condominiums as timeshare units with Jacuzzis in every master bedroom. She eventually upgrades the décor with genuinely luxurious amenities (probably swiped from the castle) and starts building new timeshare resorts everywhere: in the mountains, by the sea, in the deserts and in the city. She becomes attractive enough to enchant princes who own famous hotel chains. Finally she becomes accepted as a genuine princess, a mainstream part of the resort industry, with influences that extend even beyond that.

"Back in the beginning, there were a lot of condo conversions," said Becka Chester, vice president of SFE Design. "At that time there weren't a lot of reliable developers. Financing was a little vague, a lot of projects fell through, and the ones that were implemented were not of high caliber."

The entrance of hotel brands into the industry were certainly not a fairy godmother-type occurrence that magically righted all of the timeshare's wrongs. But it was part of a broad spectrum of other forces that powered the early conversions to today's purpose-built projects: buyer expectations; availability of new and more affordable luxury products, including electronics; the demand for flexibility and variety; and ecological and health issues.

Buyer Expectations

"The continuum of luxury has evolved," said Elizabeth Slifer, president of Slifer Designs. "The bar keeps getting raised as more and more players get into the market who have high quality reputations to maintain. So quality is escalating. The goal is to mimic the styles of the homes of the super rich."

Merilee Elliott, president of Merilee Elliott Interiors, agrees: "We used to amaze [prospective purchasers] with a little. Not it takes a whole lot just to meet their expectations."

She attributes this to a variety of factors.

"Buyers now are very sophisticated: shopping on the Internet, comparing prices on everything, and comparing interiors," Elliott said. "They're not going to want to stay in a place that isn't as nice as their own homes. It has to be a lot better, because that's what it was all about in the beginning."

The problem is that "better" is significantly scaled upwards from the "better" that characterized the beginning of the timeshare industry - not because the homes of the rich are that much more luxurious, but rather because the homes of the less affluent have improved dramatically.

"People are intensely interested in interiors," Elliott said. "The number one television show is Trading Spaces. People now care what the bedspread looks like when they check into a place. They didn't used to care - you know, 'Where's the easy chair and the beer?' Now men as much as women are into interior design because they are being heavily exposed to it. Home Depot has brought affordability of products to people who are remodeling their own homes. So people's homes are getting a lot nicer."

New Products

To achieve ever higher levels of comfort and luxury, designers are using new fabrics that weren't available ten years ago.

"We now have the fabric Avora, which doesn't fade or shrink, is flame resistant and therefore great for bedspreads and draperies," said Pamela McMullen of Pamela McMullen Interiors. "Today they have chenille that can withstand 100,000 double rubs. There will continue to be more and more upgrades in the product levels."

"I think Krypton will become even more popular, said Lori Amis, president of Lori Amis Interiors. "We used to use laminated barrier surface fabrics on things like dining room chairs so they could be easily wiped down, but the problem is it gives that commercial sort of feeling. With Krypton the barriers are on the bottom, so you still have the texture of an upholstered piece, but it's more stain resistant. They even have Krypton faux suede."

With the development of China as a source for materials and products, more luxurious interiors can be realized without extraordinary expenditures. Granite from China now costs about the same as the plastic laminates that have long been the standard for kitchen counters. China has also become the major supplier of high-quality lower-priced furniture.

Of course, the phenomenal developments in the field of electronics are also having tremendous impact.

"When we started out in 1983, a big TV was 19 inches," said Merilee Elliott. "We put Backgammon, Scrabble, and Monopoly in every room. Today we are recommending to any developers who ask, don't buy television armoires. You're going to be replacing those big clunkers with flat-screen plasma units on the wall. And if you're wiring electronics now, stop. Go to 802-11 wireless access points, because by the time you open up, everyone will be carrying their little wireless toys and need high-speed wireless Internet access."

Electronics will be integrated into the rooms' mechanical systems as well. Motion sensors will determine whether or not there's anyone in the room, and will turn on heating or air conditioning accordingly. Beside the bed, instead of an alarm clock, there will be a control panel that can open the drapes, adjust the heat, modulate the lighting, turn on the shower and call for breakfast.

Flexibility and Variety

The demand for flexibility and variety might be the most influential force in the timeshare industry. The early timeshare projects were usually converted condominiums with large two- or three-bedroom units that were bought for one specific week of the year. All that changed with purpose-built timeshare facilities, fractionals, trading and point systems.

"Today's trend is the two-bedroom lock-off," said Margit Whitlock Espinoza, principal of Architectural Concepts. "Typically, one side is a studio sleep-four unit with a bed and a sofa sleeper and a very small kitchen. The other side is a deluxe one-bedroom. I think that's going to be the trend for the next five years."

With such a unit, owners can spend one week of the year in the studio unit and another week on the deluxe side. Or they can buy the whole unit instead of half.

"75% are sold as two-bedroom units," Espinoza said. "I would say that it's going to be very popular for the upper tier."

In most places, building codes require that the two units be separated by a one-hour firewall. Espinoza would like to see someone come up with a way to get around that, permitting even greater flexibility of use.

"I'd like to see technology that would allow the wall between the two living rooms to go away, creating one enormous great-room," she said. "Somebody needs to invent an accordion wall that will meet the one-hour fire code restrictions, but will fold into little pockets in the wall."

Obviously, new construction allows timeshare and fractional units to be located almost anywhere, in almost any configuration - from single units in the mountains or in the desert, condo-like residences near golf courses or by the seashore, to sky-high towers in Las Vegas . In most of them, the two-bedroom lock-off seems to be the preferred configuration.

But developers, architects, and interior designers must consider more than the individual living spaces.

"Timeshare design used to be focused on the unit itself," said Gerald Koi, principal of Morris Architects. "Now timeshare is really focused on the amenities and the guest experience."

These amenities can be provided within the timeshare facility itself.

"You can build feature pools, all kinds of recreational activities, lazy river rides, that would create more of a destination for the traveler as hotels have done in the past." Koi said. "Timeshare hasn't been as ready to do that because of costs. They just can't afford it unless the project is big enough to justify it."

Developers are looking to overcome this problem in two ways. One is to locate the project in a city or other area where amenities already exist, and the other is to build complete mixed-use developments.

"We're seeing resorts where the amenities that we build within the property are very small - no pool, or maybe a small indoor pool, a little health and fitness center - but look more to the outside in the culture and the street for the real entertainment and amenities," Koi said. "For example, we did the project for Fairfield in Alexandria , VA [just outside Washington , DC ]. You step out your front door and you're right in Old Town Alexandria, on King Street ."

Merilee Elliott agrees. "I think you're going to see more urban [properties]. People love the metropolises. It's just fun to visit the big cities. Just as there was a huge move from the suburbs back to the city, I think vacations will move in the same direction."

Building timeshare projects in the city presents its own set of challenges.

"Urban usually means higher land costs and the need to downsize the product slightly," Koi said, "or your lock-off units might be more hotel-module type lock-offs instead of full one-bedroom lock-offs."

Other developers are looking to provide variety of experience by building brand new mixed-use communities, with restaurants, hotels and cultural experiences in addition to timeshare units.

"We have the potential to work on a project that re-creates a whole town that existed in the 1930s," Espinoza said. "It's now like a ghost town. We're working on a master plan to create streets, crossroads, a whole village. It will incorporate not only timeshare, but also a spa, holistic health facility, etc. It will provide something for everybody, from the very rich to people with more moderate incomes. It will also be good for day visitors."

Ecology and Health Considerations

Whether their projects are urban or out in the boondocks, architects and designers today are passionate about the need to focus on health and ecology. That's already having an impact in some small but important ways.

"You go to the beach now, what do you have to worry about?" asked Merilee Elliott. "Skin cancer. Twenty years ago we never thought about shade when we were doing the landscape plan. It was how many deck chairs could you get out there around the pool in the sun. Now the conversation in team meetings is, 'Where are the shaded areas?' Health concerns that people have now are different. It's not just going to be smoke-free."

Designers are also aware of the increasing viability of recycled products.

"My designers showed me a fabric that is made out of recycled plastic bottles," said Margit Espinoza. "I couldn't believe it. It was really good looking, it's commercial and it's reasonably priced."

Espinoza welcomes such advances and looks for a lot more. "I'm kinda fearful for my grandkids. I think it's irresponsible not to think about solar in places like Arizona and California . Every architect and designer at least should bring up the conversation with their developer and be knowledgeable enough to advise them on long-term life cycle costs or start-up costs. A lot of these projects are built and turned over to a homeowners association, so the long-term maintenance is sometimes ignored to bring about a project in budget. There's solar, there's water reclamation where you take all the gray water, treat it, and irrigate you landscaping with it. There's wind. In fact, there's recycling inside these units. I think the trash container should have a bin next to it for recycling cans and bottles, very consciously designed into the kitchen."

"If we're not more ecologically aware in 20 years that we are today, we might just as well call it quits, said Joe Hasulak, president of Hasulak and Associates. "Unfortunately, a lot of timeshare resorts have jumped on the ecological bandwagon, but it's phony, not all that significant. But there are some timeshare resorts that are going into very conscious efforts to examine the environment. Any resort in Costa Rica , for example, is very ecologically aware. Costa Rica is probably the most ecologically aware country in the world. They have extremely challenging laws on environmentalism."

"The health and ecology bandwagon could easily turn into a freight train, however. The main obstacle to acceptance, of course, is economics. But that's what could actually provide the fuel to move it forward. That fuel could come from both sides of the income/expenditure equation. Income depends on demand, and buyers are starting to demanding more "green" resorts.

"We're seeing that the market is changing a little bit," said Scott Martin, senior designer at Morris Architects. "Ecology is becoming a marketing point. People can sell their product, their building, their location as a 'green building,' as ecologically sound so that it attracts people on its own."

Expenditures will change when the developers realize the benefits of balancing upfront costs with long-term financial benefits.

"There are facts and figures that show it makes good business sense to incorporate some of these features - energy savings, water savings and operation and maintenance," Martin said. "Over a five, 10, 20 year period, it more than pays for the upfront costs, if there are any additional upfront costs in order to have more green initiatives."

"The buzz word in the industry is going to be sustainability," said Rick Hulbert, chairman of The Hulbert Group International. "Sustainability can have a very complex philosophical definition. I'm going to define it very straightforwardly in a way that a consumer or developer can understand, and an approving authority can understand: it's conservation of resources. If we're suggesting that in the future we're going to have to conserve resources, I'm going to include in that package everything from energy and services to land, money, and time. That means we're going to have higher density projects, land-efficient housing, and efficient resort communities, and they have to be approved more quickly, because time is a resource."

These considerations require a more integrated approach to resort design. Morris Architects is paying more close attention to the principles advocated by the U.S. Green Building Council.

"In site design, we've always considered such things as energy conservation, recycling and re-use of materials or sensitive use of materials, and air quality, but all of these have been sort of separate issues," Koi said. "GreenBuild wraps them into one program that your' aware of as you start the project, and you have sensitivity towards all of those aspects instead of maybe just focusing on one or two. They are all interrelated."

Queen Cinderella

No rational person looks for "happily ever after" in resort architecture/design, but you can expect it to complete the transition from stepchild through princess to broadly influential queen.

"I think the principles of time share architecture actually are going to improve single-family home design, condominium design, and hotel design," Hulbert said. "Timeshare housing is geared toward the experience of the moment, and creating the positive experience that you want to come back to. I think those notions are starting to feed back into traditional whole-ownership housing. That is incredibly exciting."

In fact, Hulbert was involved in a project that exemplified the blurring of the line between fractionals and permanent resident design.

"It was designed as a fractional, with ownership intervals of anywhere from two weeks to three months," Hulbert said. "The owner decided to sell it as whole ownership. We didn't change the design. We sold out 54 homes in five hours, with prices ranging from $400,000 to $1.2 million. This is an example of how the timeshare can ultimately be the driving force in housing, period."